Implementation Information

Implementation Documents

December 2003

This document explains how to prepare a startup, shutdown, malfunction plan for municipal solid waste landfills. Landfill owners and operators who are affected by the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (landfills NESHAP) and who must install a collection and control system must prepare a startup, shutdown, malfunction plan (SSM plan). For the landfills SSM plan, the primary concern is with malfunction of the landfill gas collection and controls system, not with the startup and shutdown of the entire source. Therefore, the guidance focuses primarily on the malfunction of the gas collection system, gas control system, and gas treatment system. The document describes what information the SSM plan should contain, to which operations the SSM plan applies, and explains how to keep records and reports. Also included is an appendix with example elements of an SSM plan for MSW landfills.[EPA-456/R-03-006]

August 2005

This document contains example mass balance calculations for estimating the moisture content of the waste mass in a bioreactor landfill. Under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (landfills NESHAP), a portion of a landfill operated as a bioreactor has timely control requirements. The landfills NESHAP allows moisture content to be determined using a variety of methods, as long as the procedures and assumptions are documented and appropriate. Although a range of appropriate measures exist, a mass balance approach is expected to be adequate in determining whether the moisture content of the waste is above or below 40 percent. Two example mass balance calculations are presented, a simple method and a more complex method. The simplified equation incorporates factors such as incoming waste moisture, liquids addition, and leachate production, which most significantly affect the average moisture content of the waste mass. The more complex procedure accounts for additional factors such as moisture retained in the landfill, surface run-off and evaporation, and evapotranspiration. This document replaces a prior version dated December 2003 which contained an error in the denominator of Equation 1. In addition, the term "wet" was added to portions of Step 17 of the advanced calculation method to further clarify that this equation is on a wet weight basis. [EPA-456/R-05-004]